Busy...

So what else is new?

I just need to keep reminding myself that life will get a little less busy in a couple weeks when my school goes on Spring Break. However, since Stitches last month, it has been non-stop, go-go-go-, keep going, oh-but-don't-forget-that-project-either, madness at work.

--- 4 straight weeks of researchers in the library, 100+ students every day, in addition to the regular classes.
--- 2 presentations at a conference (oh, I agreed to help out at two of them? Oops, I thought I'd only said okay to one...)
--- 1 presentation that was cancelled at the last minute (rescheduled for next month)
--- need to make sure all your budget is spent (in your spare time)
--- what the heck am I teaching this week to this grade?
--- Second Grade show rehearsals onstage start next week, right after the researchers finish; show is less than two weeks away, so also need to keep the librarian-in-charge-of-show sane
--- which reminds me that I need to reformat my copy of the script because I'm the stage manager

No wonder my down time at home has often been spent staring off into space instead of crafting!

Nothing has been finished since my last post, but the projects are heading closer to completion. I've told myself that I have to finish one project before I can cast on another.

1. Susie sweater -- moving along on the first sleeve. The cuff is done and I'm almost 17" up the length. I just need to try it on the recipient and see how much farther I need to get it. Maybe I'll start the cuff of the second sleeve now.

2. Lost in Transit scarf is about 2/3 done. I'm almost done with the second repeat. It still looks the same as last month, only longer.

3. Purple Vanilla socks - 1 sock is done, the toe is cast on and I'm now knitting around and around and around for the foot.

4. The little bit of crafting brain that I have left is focused on spinning! Right after Stitches ended, I had to try out my new fast flyer on something intended for laceweight. Well, gee, I just happened to have this gorgeous baby camel/silk blend...

But then I got a KCL Woods spindle at Purlescence. I resisted going by Ken Ledbetter's booth at Stitches, but the Purl Girls didn't and brought some spindles into the shop. One came home with me, and the Abstract Fiber silk/merino blend in "Poppies" was immediately started onto a leader. This spindle (one of his "beginner spindles", nothing fancy) spins like a dream - love it, love it, love it!

Talk about addiction! In the last 2 weeks, I've almost spun 2 oz, solely on a drop spindle. I will say that the more you use a drop spindle, the less you drop it! I'm going to ply it into a 2-ply laceweight. Can't wait!!!

Oh, and the last thing that has eaten my brain is my new iPhone. My old iPod Touch was a first generation and wouldn't upgrade any further to iOS4, therefore not syncing my calendar etc, with my computer. After a bit of hemming and hawing (on my part) and a bit of research (on his part), he told me to upgrade to an iPhone4. [Darn, he made me do it!]

So we're standing in the Apple Store and looking at cases, but I can't get any of their purple cases because everyone else I know has one of them. I stood there and said "this person has this one, and this other person has this one..." So I went home, looked around online and didn't like the other ones I saw. Then Tapmouse mentioned making a custom case - bingo! I went to Zazzle, uploaded a photo that The Dork had taken a while back, and here's my new case. It won't be mixed up with anyone else's! The flower is actually more purple than this. It's Vinca Minor (aka common periwinkle), in case you're wondering...

I'm trying not to let a month go by before I post again, but we'll see what happens...

Great Balls of...

YARN!

"...I need to acquire/make a giant ball of yarn. Round ball. The size of a basketball at least. I was thinking of using a cheap ball and gluing yarn or rope to it. But then I thought I should at least ask the yarn guru if anyone actually had one..."

After I stopped laughing at this email from my friend at school, I knew exactly what to do. You see, she's is getting props together for a play the Kindergarten classes are doing. 1/2 of each class are playing dogs and the others are cats. Of course, cats need yarn balls, right?

The purple ball is about 7" in diameter, the rainbow boucle is about 8-1/2" to 9" in diameter. Not quite basketball-sized, but I think they'll show up pretty well onstage. But I can't remember what the yarns are - I think the purple is a Rowan super-bulky, but I've lost the ball band from the other one.

Another one of those weeks!

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE my job as a school librarian! It's just the little things that get in the way sometimes...like THE KIDS!

Tuesday
Kindergarten - couldn't shut up. Now, as everyone knows, I don't shut up either. But I do expect a basic level of listening skills and respect for those who are speaking. When I'm telling a story is not the time to discuss something that the story indirectly reminds you of, as kinder kids are easily distractable. Arrgh!

Wednesday
3rd grade -- can't follow directions to get out of a paper bag! Picture a class of 15-18 kids with worksheets on their desks. I give directions about the first, more confusing side. 25% can't figure out which side I'm talking about and keep flipping their page over, as if a huge splash of color is going to show up and indicate "THIS ONE!" The worksheet is all about following directions and identifying different parts of a library catalog record. Okay, fine - that side is finished.

"Do not turn the page over yet." Half the kids promptly turn the page over.
"I said, 'do not turn the page over'!" (sheepish looks from the kids)
I continue with the instructions, but 2 sentences later, 3 kids are looking at it again.
"Am I speaking in English?! What part of 'Do not turn the page over yet' are you not understanding?!" [Sheesh!]
"Remember, it is not a race to finish. The ones who have been finishing the fastest are the ones who are not thinking about the questions and getting them wrong." Two kids turn the page over.
"I JUST SAID, DO NOT TURN THE PAGE OVER!...."

Rinse, repeat 7 times - once for each section of 3rd grade.
And other teachers are saying the same things about their students this week, too, so I know it's not me, it's them!

Thursday
Looked out my kitchen window to see this cheeky bugger in my 4-1/2 foot tall persimmon tree.









Guess the rest of the persimmons were ripe!







I called cuteknitter and said I needed OUT, NOW! So we went here and had a great dinner with Anna and then to Knit Night at Purlescence. Definitely what I needed - thanks everyone!

Believe it or not, there has been movement on the fiber front!
My pink dot socks are getting closer to done. On the 2nd sock, need to start the heel...but couldn't remember how to do a shortrow heel because my instructions disappeared. One of Saturday's tasks is to clear off the couch of all yarn, the stack of patterns/books/magazines so we can actually sit there again! Maybe I'll find my missing page...or maybe I'll do the easy thing, search for the directions online (because I have the pdf in a computer file that's easier to find) and completely ignore the couch.

My other project is a baby blanket for one of our admin assistants. She's a new grandma, and our book club had a "Grandma shower" for her last week. As she will be picking up her granddaughter and babysitting every afternoon for a couple hours, she needs lots of fun stuff! The blanket I was making for her wasn't done yet, so I wrapped it and put a note with it "if this is returned to me, I'll make it big enough for you to wrap the baby in..." I arrived at the party a couple hours late, as I had to take The Dork to his fencing class (and traffic...ick!) first. As I walked in, Grandma said "where's your crochet hook and the extra yarn? This needs to get done!" This weekend should do it, but I'm making it up as I go, and have had to rip out several rows because it wasn't quite right.

FYI, cuteknitter has been a very bad enabler! (or good, from your point of view...) Fiber from here is arriving and I need to find room for it in my spinning stash. Guess I do have to clear off the couch after all...

And around 11:30 last night, Dear Hubby informed me that a plumber is now needed for issues in both bathrooms and , oh by the way, there is a roof leak in the office.

Such is life...